A great many words that have had relevant meaning in society have fallen out of favor but none so much as the R-word.

The students of Best Buddies have been advocating a campaign to end the use of this word. One of the advisors of Best Buddies, Mrs. Connolly, made claims that some videos supporting this campaign would be released, but no date of release has been revealed.

While it has had a purposeful meaning in medicine, the phrasing has been changed and along with it, the connotation of the R-word. The word has degraded to an insult and slang instead of a medicinal term.

On Thursday, March 13th – Franklin High School’s Science National Honors Society (SNHS) chapter hosted an exposition of intro-level science experiments and demonstrations for Franklin’s elementary and middle school students. Students and their parents toured Thursday’s “Science Night” in throngs, enjoying the night’s demonstrations and activities with smiles of wonder and fascination.

Serenaded by string instruments as they ascended up to the second and third floors, participants were directed to the four science classrooms where the event took place. Heading towards the biology lab with his parent, one younger participant compared the string ensemble to “an orchestra”.

A new pipeline passing through Franklin is
both unnecessary and a bad idea. An informational meeting will
be held at FUSF Church (262 Chestnut St) Thursday April 2nd, 7:30pm. Please
attend and become informed.The details outlined in this posting: 7 Reasons to Oppose New Gas Pipelines in MA will be among the topics discussed on Thursday.

The Milford Daily News reports on a new bill filed by Representative Jeff Roy to change the way the state would charge teenagers for sexting.

Roy’s bill would branch sexting off into a new category of crime for people under the age of 18, one treated as civil offense or misdemeanor with repercussions ranging from a diversion program to a fine

An important change, Roy said, is the teen would not be required to register with the sex offender registry.

The Franklin Democrat began studying the laws on sexting after receiving a call from a concerned local police officer.

“He said that when they have an incident of sexting among teenagers, they are faced with either charging them with possession of child porn or doing nothing,” Roy said. “(The officer) acknowledged that sexting is a problem that can lead to some damaging consequences. He said, ‘We hate to do nothing, but to charge kids with child pornography has life-altering consequences."

The Housing Trust has another property available for those who meet the affordable housing guidelines. This property is located at 93 Brandywine Road.Details on the property and affordable guidelines contained in this flyer

Franklin High School was represented by Jillian Spolidoro (1st team), Lexi Martin (2nd team) and Traci Pisani (Defensive team) when Hockomock Sports announced the awards for girls basketball for the 2014-2015 season.

Slavery in Franklin? Records show that there were in fact men and women of color owned as property, not only in the South, but throughout New England and by prominent Franklin families in the late 1700's and early 1800's.

Susan Elliott's informative exhibit, with details about slaves in our town is now on display at the museum.

Learn about a man named Ceasar owned by the Pond family. Extensive research was done in preparation for this revealing exhibit.

image from Franklin Historical Museum Facebook page

The Franklin Historical Museum is open on Saturday from 10:00 to 1:00 and Sunday from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. (In warmer months, it will also oopen On Thursday evenings from 5:00 to 8:00 PM)For more information about the Historical Museum and its exhibts, you can vis them on the web http://franklinhistoricalmuseum.org/or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FHM02038?fref=tsThe best visit is in person 80 West Central St

Saturday, March 28, 2015

The Franklin High School boys hockey team was recognized for their historic year with several HockomockSports.Com awards.

Player of the Year

Franklin senior Ryan Spillane has been chosen as the 2015 HockomockSports.com Hockey Player of the Year. Spillane is the third player that has been chosen for this award and first from either the Kelley-Rex Division or from the Panthers.

Spillane was also chosen as the Hockomock MVP by the league's coaches after leading the Panthers to a perfect 10-0 record and a league title. In addition, he led the Panthers to a 17-4-3 record and a history-making appearance in the Super 8 tournament highlighted by his dramatic overtime game-winning goal against Xaverian.

Goalie of the Year

Franklin senior Ryan Shea has been named the 2015 HockomockSports.com Goalie of the Year. Shea is the second player to receive the honor in its third season being awarded. Oliver Ames goalie Jimmy Tierney was the recipient each of the past two years.

“Ryan could arguably have been the MVP this season with performances that he turned in, including a second period that had everybody wowed against Malden Catholic in the Super 8,” said Hockomock Sports.com Managing Editor Josh Perry. “Ryan showed that he could compete with some of the best teams in the state.”

Kyle Filbert joined Ryan Spillane and Ryan Shea on the First Team. Alec Borkowski was named to the Second Team and Mason Saunders was named to the Third Team.

Coach of the Year

Franklin head coach Chris Spillane has been chosen as the 2015 HockomockSports.com Hockey Coach of the Year. Spillane is the second coach to receive this honor in the three years that it has been handed out. Canton coach Brian Shuman won the award each of the past two seasons.

Spillane guided the Panthers to a 17-4-3 overall record and a perfect 10-0 in the Hockomock League. In addition, Franklin became the first Hockomock team to be selected for the prestigious Super 8 tournament and reached the tournament proper after an overtime win against Xaverian in the play-in game.

U.S. Congressman Joe Kennedy III visited the Franklin Downtown Partnership office Friday afternoon to hear first-hand about two initiatives the nonprofit group has been involved with.

Those projects include a partnership linking local small business owners with Dean College business students and the Roadway and Streetscape Improvement Project.

Kennedy spoke with FDP Executive Director Lisa Piana and Robert Cuomo, Dean of the School of Business at Dean College, about a new initiative that pairs business students with local small businesses to create business plans.

Kennedy discussed a new initiative linking Dean College business students with local small business owners with Dr. Robert Cuomo, Dean of the School of Business at Dean College.

The owners of Franklin Yoga & Wellness, Making Whoopie, Pour Richard’s Wine & Spirits, and Drama Kids of Metro West are working with students to develop and enhance all aspects of their business plans. According to Cuomo, the businesses benefit from free planning help while the Dean students gain real-world experience in developing and growing small companies.

Director of Planning and Community Development Bryan Taberner explained the impact the Roadway and Streetscape Improvement Program will have on downtown Franklin.

Kennedy also reviewed plans for the upcoming Roadway and Streetscape Improvement Project slated to begin in April. Bryan Taberner, Director of Planning and Community Development for the Town of Franklin, described how the project will improve traffic circulation, road conditions, emergency response times and pedestrian safety while enhancing the downtown’s overall appearance and promoting private sector investment.

The project has been in the planning stages for nine years; Congressman Kennedy’s uncle, the late Senator Ted Kennedy, was instrumental is securing $5 million in federal funds for the project in 2006.

Lisa Piana explains some of the numerous revitalization and improvement projects the Partnership has been involved with since 2001.

The congressman’s visit to the FDP office was one of several stops he made in Franklin Friday. Earlier in the day Kennedy took part in a manufacturing roundtable discussion, toured Franklin High School, and ate lunch at the Rome Restaurant. He later paid a visit to The Black Box.

The Milford Daily News reports on two of the stops US Rep Joe Kennedy III made in Franklin on Friday.

The roundtable, held at the Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School, was attended by a number of legislators and officials, including U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III, D-4th., state Rep. Jeffrey Roy, D- Franklin, state Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Jay Ash, state Rep. John Fernandes, D-Milford, and Richard Lord, president of the Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

One topic on the agenda was energy costs, and National Grid program manager Sneha Sachar spoke about the factors that drove up electrical supply rates 30 percent over the winter.

"The crux of the challenge is natural gas pipelines - there's a limited volume of gas we can bring into the state," she said, noting that the state had an increased reliance on natural gas for electrical generation. "Some of our old generating plants are retired - they ran on coal and gas. Massachusetts has a commitment to clean energy, so there's a little bit of price volatility associated with that as well."

Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat who won re-election to a second term last November, also spent time marveling at Franklin’s new high school, calling its resources “truly unparalleled.”

He passed through the school’s cavernous auditorium and poked around its high-tech science labs, where students build robots or study crime scenes. Every so often he paused to admire the student drawings and paintings that adorn most hallways.

“This school represents an incredible sign of commitment from the community to the education of the next generation,” Kennedy said as the tour wrapped up.

State policy can help build an economy that works for everyone. With high quality education and training opportunities for all, and with functioning core public structures like a reliable transportation system, our entire economy grows stronger. States can also support families across the Commonwealth by setting a fair minimum wage and establishing other policies that improve working conditions and help ensure that everyone who works for a living can afford to pay for life's basic necessities.

As part of our efforts to grow the economy, our state spends close to a billion dollars a year on special business tax breaks. We have no process, however, for systematically assessing this type of economic development spending against our goals. Special business tax breaks apply to specific industries or reward specific activities. In many cases there is no evidence that they are a cost effective way to achieve legitimate public purposes. Yet these tax breaks live on from year to year, partly because - unlike items in the state budget - they are not subject to regular scrutiny through the annual budget process.

Our new factsheet, The Massachusetts Film Tax Credit, describes one of the state's most generous tax breaks. This program provides movie producers with a tax credit of 25% of the cost of making a movie in Massachusetts, meaning that if a company spends $20 million shooting a movie here, it receives a tax credit of $5 million. If a movie star is paid $10 million, the state reimburses $2.5 million of that cost through our tax code - even though most of that $10 million in salary will likely leave the state economy and be spent where the star lives.

Studies by the state's Department of Revenue have detailed the results of providing film tax credits:

The economic activity generated by film tax credits between 2006 and 2012 led to $55.1 million in tax revenue for the state. But that is substantially less than the $411 million cost of credits the state issued in those years.

Almost two thirds of the wages paid in connection with the film tax credits went to people who are not Massachusetts residents - including large salaries to movie stars from other states.

The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts.